No. 20 Kansas Hosts Grambling State Wednesday Night
Nov. 27, 2012
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Pregame Notes in PDF Format
QUICK HITS ABOUT KANSASWBB
Kansas enters the game against Grambling State with a 47-game win streak in non-conference, regular-season home games. The last time the Jayhawks lost to a non-conference foe at Allen Fieldhouse during the regular-season was Xavier on Dec. 31, 2006. For the second-straight week, Kansas is ranked in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll. The Jayhawks are ranked No. 20, which is the highest KU has been ranked in the AP poll since Nov. 23, 2009. The Jayhawks have been ranked each week this season in the USA Today Coaches Top-25 Poll, which is released on Tuesdays. A victory against Grambling State would give Kansas a 6-0 start for the third-straight season and the fourth under head coach Bonnie Henrickson. To date, no KU opponent has reached 60 points this season. Carolyn Davis and Angel Goodrich are both on the watch lists for the Wade Trophy, the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award, as two of the top players in the nation. Goodrich is also one of 30 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. Davis enters the game with exactly 1,400 career points and needs 30 more points to surpass Angie Halbleib for 11th place in program history. Sophomore Natalie Knight is 5-foot-7 in stature, but leads the Jayhawks with four blocked shots on the season. The majority of her blocks have come on the perimeter, knocking down three-point tries. Senior Monica Engelman ranks second on the team in rebounding with 6.4 boards per game and she is also second in assists with 16 on the season. Goodrich led the nation in assists per game with 7.4 last season and is currently averaging 6.2 assists per game this year. Goodrich was named to the preseason First Team All-Big 12 and was tabbed as a 2012 Associated Press Preseason All-America honorable mention selection.
ABOUT GRAMBLING STATE
Grambling State is located in Grambling, La., and has an enrollment of 4,994. The Tigers compete in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Tigers return one starter from a team which finished 19-17 last season. Grambling State was picked to finish eighth in the SWAC Preseason Poll, according to the league’s coaches.
HARPER’S BIZARRE
CeCe Harper has had a bizarre start to her junior season. In the first three games, Harper was held scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting. However, in the last two games, Harper is averaging eight points per contest, while shooting 6-for-12 from the field.
JUST IMAGINE
National player of the year candidate Carolyn Davis has seen controlled minutes during the early part of the season as she works her way back from her season-ending knee injury last year. As a result, Davis is averaging just 23.6 minutes per game and is nearly posting a point per minute with 18.0 points per game. By prorating her production over 40 minutes, Davis would be averaging 30.5 points per game for KU.
TURNING THE TIDE
In the first three games of the season, Kansas’ Monica Engleman, Bunny Williams, Chelsea Gardner, Asia Boyd and CeCe Harper were shooting a combined 11-for-63 (.175) from the field. However, in the wins over Alabama A&M and Creighton, the Jayhawks quintet shot a combined 24-for-49 (.490).
1,400 EVEN
Senior Carolyn Davis entered the Creighton game needing 12 points to reach the 1,400-point milestone in her career. She finished the game with 12 points. With that, Davis enters the game against Grambling State as one of only 11 Kansas players to ever score 1,400 points in their career.
SWAC ATTACK
For the second time in less than a week, Kansas will host a member school from the Southwestern Athletic Conference. KU defeated Alabama A&M, 76-59, on Nov. 23. With that victory, the Jayhawks are now 12-1 (.923) all-time against current members of the SWAC. KU’s lone SWAC loss came at the hands of Jackson State in a 68-52 win at Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 21, 1981.
NOT IN OUR LEAGUE
The Jayhawks have compiled an impressive record outside the Big 12 Conference in regular-season play. KU owns a 320-147 (.685) record versus non-conference opponents. The Jayhawks are currently riding a 47-game win streak against non-conference foes at Allen Fieldhouse in the regular season. KU has not lost a regular-season, non-conference home game since falling, 72-63, to Xavier on Dec. 31, 2006.
ACTION JACKSON
Junior Tania Jackson came off the bench against Southeast Missouri State and posted the third double-double of her career. Powered by a career-best 13 rebounds, Jackson added 12 points to spark the Jayhawks in the second half. Against Wake Forest, Jackson earned her first start of the season and was just one rebound shy of another double-double. Jackson currently leads the Jayhawks with 7.8 rebounds per game and she has started in each of the last three games.
POINT OF EMPHASIS
Last season, Kansas ranked last in the Big 12 Conference for defensive field goal percentage, at 40.6 percent. Through early season interviews and media days, head coach Bonnie Henrickson and the Jayhawks talked about team defense being a point of emphasis. KU has had solid defensive efforts this season and has held its opponents to 35.1 percent shooting from the field.
SHE GIVETH and SHE TAKETH AWAY
Senior Angel Goodrich led the Jayhawks against Crieghton with nine assists and five steals. That effort marked the 38th game in her career where she posted the team high in assists and steals in the same game.
MY, MY MONICA
Senior Monica Engelman has been hitting the glass so far this season. Engelman is averaging 6.4 boards per game this season and has 14 offensive rebounds. She ranks second on the team with 32 total boards and also is second on the squad with 16 assists.
FIRST WADE, THEN WOODEN, NOW NAISMITH
Kansas seniors Carolyn Davis and Angel Goodrich are two of the 25 NCAA Division I women’s basketball student-athletes to be named to the 2012-13 State Farm® Wade Trophy Watch List. The Kansas duo has also been tabbed for John R. Wooden Award Women’s Preseason Top-30 List, and are both on the 50-player list for the 2012-13 Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year presented by AT&T early season watch list.
PULLING RANK
Kansas is ranked in Associated Press Top-25 Poll for the second-straight week, coming it at No. 20. KU is also ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and has been ranked in the top-25 each of the three weeks this season.
O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
For the third-straight season, seniors Carolyn Davis and Angel Goodrich will serve as team captains for the Jayhawks during the 2012-13 campaign.
MASTERS OF THEIR CRAFT
The senior writers of espnW collaborated and came up with the top-five players in the nation by position. Once again, Angel Goodrich and Carolyn Davis found themselves among the nation’s elite. Goodrich was classified as one of the country’s top-five point guards, while Davis was tabbed as one of the nation’s best five centers.
SHOWING A LOT OF CLASS
Prior to the start of the regular season, senior Angel Goodrich was named one of 30 national finalists for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
HOME SWEET HOME
Kansas is now in its 45th season playing at Allen Fieldhouse and head coach Bonnie Henrickson has built the venue into a home-court advantage for the Jayhawks. Since 2004-05, KU has posted a 103-45 record (.696) at home. Kansas owns a 391-210 (.651) all-time record on James Naismith Court at Allen Fieldhouse.
PRESEASON HYPE
Senior Angel Goodrich ended the 2011-12 season with All-Big 12 Second Team honors, but heading into the 2012-13 campaign the league coaches pegged Goodrich as one of the top-five players in the conference. In addition to Goodrich, KU’s Carolyn Davis received honorable mention accolades.
JOIN THE CLUB
Another milestone to watch for is that of Monica Engelman. The Kansas senior now has 951 career points scored and with 49 more tallies will become the 25th player in Kansas history to join the 1,000-point club. Since the table is set, also keep an eye on Angel Goodrich, who now needs 160 points to join the club.
A NATIONAL LEADER
Senior Angel Goodrich enters this season as the reigning national champion in assists-per-game. Goodrich paced the Jayhawks with a school and Big 12 record 250 assists last season, or 7.4 per game. Goodrich currently averages 6.2 assists per game.
THAT 70’s SHOW
Kansas’ success during the Bonnie Henrickson-era has been pretty much based on 70 points. When the Jayhawks score 70 or more points, Kansas owns a 91-9 record (.910) in her eight previous seasons. When KU opponents score less than 70 points, the Jayhawks are 124-67 (.649) during that span.
TWENTY SOMETHING
When Carolyn Davis scores 20 or more points in a game, the Jayhawks usually come out on top. Davis has 29 20-point efforts in her career and KU boasts a 24-5 (.828) record in those contests.
WHAT DOES FIVE DIMES EQUAL?
In addition to being 50 cents, five dimes from Angel Goodrich in a game also equals a good chance for a Kansas victory. Goodrich has collected five or more assists 67 times in her career with the Jayhawks and KU was victorious in 47 of those games.
HOW SWEET IT IS
Kansas returned to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last season for the first time since 1998. It marked the third time in school history that the Jayhawks advanced to the Sweet 16 and was Kansas’ 12th NCAA Tournament appearance.
PLAN FOR POSTSEASON
Faithful followers of the Kansas women’s basketball program have learned to plan for postseason play. In Bonnie Henrickson’s eight previous seasons with the Jayhawks, KU has advanced to postseason play six times, including five straight. In fact, in Henrickson’s head coaching career, she has led her team to postseason play 13 times in 15 seasons.
RELOADING
How does a top-25 program stay in the national polls? Sign a top-25 recruiting class. That’s exactly what head coach Bonnie Henrickson and her staff did during the early signing period, inking the No. 14-ranked recruiting class in the nation, according to Collegiate Girls Basketball Report, and the top among Big 12 Conference schools. The class also ranked No. 25 nationally by Blue Star Basketball. The Jayhawks signed Jada Brown (6-0, F, Las Vegas, Nev.), Dakota Gonzalez (6-0, G, Pocatello, Idaho), Dylan Gonzalez (6-0, G, Pocatello, Idaho), Caelynn Manning-Allen (6-4, F, Chicago, Ill.) and Keyla Morgan (5-8, G, Rancho Dominguez, Calif.).
